Not getting many bites on my FS ad - thoughts?

[Christien]

Over 3000 views, but so far only one or two emails, and a phone call from the local Auto Trader listing.

Anyone care to speculate? Price? I'm not in a huge rush to sell - I don't need the money, just want to upgrade to a carrera cab, but I do want to enjoy the new car this season and would like to have everything done by the time the really good driving weather hits in late April/early may.

Here's the ad:

FS: 1972 911t w/ extra engine

Thoughts?

[geshaghi]

Christien - I watched your car with some interest and while I'm a bit surprised at the lack of real interest, I offer the following thoughts that might be affecting the response:
- Originality: I think the market presently values originality (or restored originality) over all else. There are a number of details on your car that add up to more than a minor inconvenience to return it to an original state. This includes the non-original motor currently installed in the car, turn signal lenses, horn grilles, wheels, side rocker molding, etc.
- Rust: You mention it in the description, but no detailed photos. I think people are scared of rust.
- Geography: Many US buyers don't understand what is needed to bring a car into the US from Canada, and simply don't want to deal with any hassles, so your buyer pool is more limited.
- RoW 72T: One of the things that makes a US 72T desirable is that these cars had MFI from the factory. RoW cars did not have MFI.
- Transaxle: A four-speed is a big turn-off for many buyers
- Economy: Most likely buyer for your car is European, since your car is a RoW model, but the Euro is off its recent high and makes your car more expensive, in what continues to be an otherwise uncertain economy. Prices, except for the most desirable examples, are soft.
- Color: believe it or not, red is not that desirable a color in early 911's.

[Christien]

Good stuff - thanks for your comments. Not much I can do about any of that, at least in the short term. Do you think it would be more attractive with the original motor in, even though it needs a rebuild? Swapping the motors is no problem - saturday adternoon job.

Other than that, just a lower price?

[dienstuhr]

I think geshaghi hit alot of the real high points.

As you know, Christien, I was/am interested in your car but the points of concern for me are the rust, the colour and I suppose the 4-spd. I understand that your ability to change those things may be limited!

Cheers

d.

[bwall]

I second geshagi's comment.

One insight I heard years ago about selling seems to still be very relavent today.

If something isn't selling it's one of three factors:

1) Price
2) Condition
3) Information (i.e. nobody knows about it)

All you need to do is figure out where the problem is, fix it, and then you will see your product gone!

[geshaghi]

Originally Posted by Christien

Good stuff - thanks for your comments. Not much I can do about any of that, at least in the short term. Do you think it would be more attractive with the original motor in, even though it needs a rebuild? Swapping the motors is no problem - saturday adternoon job.

Other than that, just a lower price?

Christien -
I'm not really sure that just stuffing the original but tired motor in the car without a rebuild is going to enhance the value that you'll get, but if you want to PM or email me, I'm happy to offer my perspective on value privately.
George

[racer]

While I commend you on listing the "bad" on your car, THOSE are the reasons.. Font pan rust, Fiberglass fenders, jackport rust, rear seat area - carpets discolored, seats ripped, then there is the originality vs R clone challenges.. an an undocumented motor combined with a motor that needs a rebuild, overspray/bad paint.

While it photographs nicely, I can't justify $21K. Would seem more like a $12K example. Rust is expensive to fix. And while you've noticed it in some places, we all know it hides elsewhere. I would wonder about the rear seat (under the carpets) for one.

I know longhoods went through the roof in price recently, but of them all, Ts have dropped back to the bottom, unless pristine and original or restored.

[Rot 911]

I'm with Racer on this one. $12K. While I know you love your car, to the rest of us it is a 911 in need of lots of work.

[Christien]

Well, if 12K is all it fetches, I'll keep it. It's sure not going to depreciate any more than that. I do think it'll fetch a fair bit more than that, though, based on recent sales I've seen here and other places. I've seen much worse condition (albeit more original) T's going for 15-20, sometimes more. This car has 2 engines, one recently rebuilt, a rebuilt tranny and detailed maintenance history, at least for the last few years. Rust repair quote I got was $1500 - but no real reason to repair it, as it's not structural.

[racer]

If that's true.. with spring coming, throw it up on EBAY and see where the market takes it!

imho, to replace fenders, (paint at least fenders maybe mote), seats, carpets, fix rust would be a $5-10K project then add another similar amount to sort out the engine(s). Most folks looking for a nice older car either want 1) a project that sells cheap and they can sink their teeth into) or 2) a really nice example they can start driving from day 1 and enjoy and show off. A car somewhere between those two becomes a tougher sell.

I wish you luck on either your sale or your keeping it and enjoying the car for years to come.

[Christien]

I've been tempted to put it up on ebay, but I'm hesitant - I've sold (or attempted to sell) 3 cars on ebay now. All 3 had issues, and not one sold properly on its first go-round. Most of the bidders were flakes and didn't intend on buying the car (read this for a laugh: why does ebay suck so badly?) and on the one that did actually sell, the buyer emailed me a month after picking up the car saying the tranny was shot and he wanted me to pay for half the replacement cost. Yeah, right.

Do any ebay car sales go smoothly? Aside from stating explicitly "no zero-feedback bidders" how do you avoid all the flakes?

[Macroni]

I would not put anymore money in this car. Sell it and get what you want. To try and repair for better dollars is impossible. Unless you can do the work yourself.

[yelcab1]

I did sell 2 cars on ebay, a Porsche and a Ferreri, both with no issues. I have never bought a car on ebay though.